Virtualized network functions and service chaining in serverless computing infrastructure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10938677-B2
Application number	US-201916280983-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2019
Priority date	Apr 12, 2017
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method implements virtualized network functions in a serverless computing system having networked hardware resources. An interface of the serverless computing system receives a specification for a network service including a virtualized network function (VNF) forwarding graph (FG). A mapper of the serverless computing system determines an implementation graph comprising edges and vertices based on the specification. A provisioner of the serverless computing system provisions a queue in the serverless computing system for each edge. The provisioner further provisions a function in the serverless computing system for each vertex, wherein, for at least one or more functions, each one of said at least one or more functions reads incoming messages from at least one queue. The serverless computing system processes data packets by the queues and functions in accordance with the VNF FG. The queues and functions processes data packets in accordance with the VNF FG.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
provisioning, at a serverless computing system, a queue based on a representation of possible paths of a virtualized network function (VNF) forwarding model;
instantiating, by the provisioner at the serverless computing system, a serverless computing function based on the representation; and
processing, by the serverless computing system using the queue and the serverless computing function, one or more data packets traversing a network path associated with the queue, the processing including executing the serverless computing function, wherein the executed serverless computing function processes network data associated with the data packets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the serverless computing function writes outgoing messages to at least one queue.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the queue stores a stream of messages to which at least one or more serverless computing functions subscribe.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the serverless computing system, an implementation graph with edges and vertices based on a specification,
wherein, the specification species one or more network paths, and wherein edges and vertices represent the one or more network paths through one or more VNFs specified in the specification.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the serverless computing system, an implementation graph with edges and vertices based on a specification, wherein the specification includes one or more VNF descriptors, and wherein the one or more VNF descriptors specify scripts to be executed by provisioned functions.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein provisioning the serverless computing function includes:
provisioning a preamble for reading incoming messages from one or more queues associated with one or more incoming edges to a respective vertex;
provisioning logic corresponding to a respective VNF for the respective vertex; and
provisioning a postamble for writing outgoing messages to one or more queues associated with one or more outgoing edges from the respective vertex.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the respective VNF differs between incoming messages originating from different queues.

8. A serverless computing system comprising:
at least one memory element; and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory element the at least one processor being configured to:
provision a queue based on a representation of possible paths of a virtualized network function (VNF) forwarding model;
provision a serverless computing function based on the representation; and
process, using the queue and the serverless computing function, one or more data packets traversing a network path associated with the queue.

9. The serverless computing system of claim 8 , wherein the serverless computing function writes outgoing messages to at least one queue.

10. The serverless computing system of claim 8 , wherein the queue stores a stream of messages to which at least one or more functions subscribe.

11. The serverless computing system of claim 8 , the at least one processor being configured to:
determine an implementation graph with edges and vertices based on a specification, wherein the specification specifies one or more network paths, and wherein the edges and vertices represent the one or more network paths through one or more VNFs specified in the specification.

12. The serverless computing system of claim 8 , the at least one processor being configured to:
determine an implementation graph with edges and vertices based on a specification, wherein the specification includes one or more VNF descriptors, and wherein the one or more VNF descriptors specify scripts to be executed by provisioned functions, the provisioned functions comprising the serverless computing function.

13. The serverless computing system of claim 8 , the at least one processor being configured to:
provision the serverless computing function for a respective vertex by:
provisioning a preamble for reading incoming messages from one or more queues associated with one or more incoming edges to the respective vertex,
provisioning logic corresponding to a virtualized network function for the respective vertex, and
provisioning a postamble for writing outgoing messages to one or more queues associated with one or more outgoing edges from the respective vertex.

14. The serverless computing system of claim 13 , wherein the virtualized network function differs between incoming messages originating from different queues.

15. One or more computer-readable non-transitory media comprising one or more instructions that, when executed on one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform one or more operations comprising:
provisioning, by a serverless computing system, a queue based on a representation of possible paths of a virtualized network function (VNF) forwarding model;
provisioning, by the serverless computing system, a serverless computing function based on the representation; and
processing, using the queue and serverless computing function, one or more data packets traversing a network path associated with the queue.

16. The one or more computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 15 , wherein the serverless computing function writes outgoing messages to at least one queue.

17. The one or more computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 15 , wherein the queue stores a stream of messages to which at least one or more functions subscribe.

18. The one or more computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 15 , comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more operations comprising:
determining, by the serverless computing system, an implementation graph comprising edges and vertices based on a specification, wherein the specification specifies one or more network paths, and wherein the edges and vertices represent the one or more network paths through one or more VNFs specified in the specification.

19. The one or more computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 15 , comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more operations comprising:
determining, by the serverless computing system, an implementation graph comprising edges and vertices based on a specification, wherein the specification includes one or more VNF descriptors, and wherein the one or more VNF descriptors specify scripts to be executed by provisioned functions.

20. The one or more computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 15 , comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more operations comprising:
provisioning the serverless computing function for a respective vertex by:
provisioning a preamble for reading incoming messages from one or more queues associated with one or more incoming edges to the respective vertex,
provisioning logic corresponding to a VNF for the respective vertex, and
provisioning a postamble for writing outgoing messages to one or more queues associated with one or more outgoing edges from the respective vertex.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Shimamura Komei
• Saha Amit Kumar
• Dutta Debojyoti

Classifications

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title

• H04L41/5045

  Making service definitions prior to deployment · CPC title

• H04L41/5096

  wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications · CPC title

• H04L41/145

  involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network · CPC title

• H04L41/5054 Primary

  Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components · CPC title